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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315052">somewhere out there</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee'>thunderylee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>love february 2021 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>KAT-TUN (Band), NEWS (Japan Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Universe, Group chat, M/M, Pictures, Polyamory, Silly shenanigans, accidental feelings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:14:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,920</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kame and Shige make a good team.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kamenashi Kazuya/Kato Shigeaki/Masuda Takahisa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>love february 2021 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>somewhere out there</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>love february day 9: polyamory. this is not the threesome i wanted to write, but it's the one massu made me write. it probably won't make sense if you haven't read his jweb, sorry. also <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIp1PkgMCQI&amp;ab_channel=AyameKuroiSan">here</a> is the japanese version of somewhere out there. now you can imagine it too ♥</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shige can count on one hand how many times he’s spoken to Kamenashi over the years, and none of them were over the phone, but that’s definitely Kame’s name flashing on his caller ID. The only reason he even has Kame’s number is because Kame sent him a recipe after they filmed TameTabi with the rest of KAT-TUN and Koyama—which he never got around to making.</p><p>“Good afternoon,” Shige answers politely. Maybe they’re filming a skit and he’s getting prank called.</p><p>“Kato-kun, good afternoon,” Kame says, light and breezy like he greets several hundred people a day, which is probably not that much of an exaggeration. “How are you?”</p><p>“I’m okay, you know. Considering.”</p><p>“Yeah. So, about your question to Masuda-kun...”</p><p>“Oh!” Shige laughs as he now understands why he’s been called. “Yeah, I thought it would be funny to build on your joke. Hope you don’t mind.”</p><p>“No, I loved it. It was hilarious.”</p><p>Kame speaks matter-of-factly like he’s a variety show producer vetting comedy duos to fill his slots. Shige feels strangely praised, like he’d been accepted to JE all over again.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>“We make a good team, Kato-kun.”</p><p>Shige pauses in his tidying up and catches his face in the hallway mirror. He looks a cross between intrigued and terrified at Kame’s insinuating tone.</p><p>“We should team up more often,” Kame goes on. “Against Masuda-kun.”</p><p>“<em>Against</em> him?” Shige asks, willing his voice not to crack. It doesn’t, barely.</p><p>“Yeah. First, ask him if it’s okay to give me his number. Nakamaru refuses to get involved.”</p><p>Smart Nakamaru, Shige thinks as he frowns at his reflection. Surely, it’s okay if he <em>asks</em> first. “Will do.”</p><p>“Then follow my lead like you did before.”</p><p>It’s exciting in the way where Shige simultaneously fears that he’s going to get into some kind of trouble. He hasn’t been in school in years, but he’s written about school kids enough to still feel that pang of anxiety about getting caught. Though he’s not certain what exactly he’s going to get in trouble <em>for</em>. Asking to share someone’s phone number is much better than just doing it without asking.</p><p>
  <em>Kamenashi-kun wants your number. OK to give?</em>
</p><p>Massu usually takes an eternity to reply to text messages, even when he’s just dicking around on his phone at home, so Shige’s surprised to get a response right away.</p><p>
  <em>Sure. Thanks for asking first.</em>
</p><p>Shige sits up a little straighter like he’s the king of checking for consent as he forwards Massu’s contact info to Kame. He finds himself glued to his phone for whatever Kame has in store for them, whenever that may be. KAT-TUN is active again, which means Kame has limited free time for shenanigans. Though he’s definitely the type to make the shenanigans a priority.</p><p>A few years ago, he would have said he felt like a teenage girl waiting to be texted by her crush, but he has matured since then and compares himself to a lovesick person of any age and gender instead. The point is that his mind is wholly focused on waiting for Kame’s text and not the forty other things he could be doing with his time. Things he <em>should</em> be doing.</p><p>As he does when he needs some sense of grounding, he calls Koyama.</p><p>Koyama listens patiently through Shige’s entire word vomit, starting from his decision to troll Massu in his Jweb and ending with his current dilemma. Koyama’s breathing is a little fast, like he’s working out, but Shige doesn’t feel bad for interrupting him because that one is <em>always </em>working out. He has to keep that body tight somehow.</p><p>“Ah, Kame-chan isn’t a bad guy, right?” Koyama responds, using that gentle voice he always uses when he doesn’t agree with Shige but won’t come out and argue with him. It’s both annoying and thoughtful.</p><p>“I don’t really know,” Shige admits. “He’s unpredictable.”</p><p>“Unpredictable is just another word for fun.”</p><p>“Not to me!”</p><p>“Relax, Shige,” Koyama says slowly, and Shige inhales deeply out of habit. "What’s the worst that can happen? Massu said yes, so if he ends up getting upset with Kame-chan then that has nothing to do with you.”</p><p>Shige sighs. “I guess you’re right.”</p><p>“Of course I am. Now get back to work! I expect you to produce our next single, you know.”</p><p>“Fuck off,” Shige mutters, and Koyama laughs.</p><p>“I love you,” Koyama says pointedly.</p><p>“Love you too.”</p><p>Shige rolls his eyes as he ends the call, but he feels much better than he did before suffering Koyama’s questionably platonic affection. He manages to focus on one of the many projects he’s working on right now for a little bit before his phone goes off, nearly scaring him out of his skin. Usually, he silences it while he works.</p><p>It’s from Kame, but there’s nothing in the preview. He’d just sent a picture. To both Shige and Massu.</p><p>Shige slowly swipes on the notification like something’s going to jump out and bite him. Knowing Kame, anything is possible. He laughs out loud when he sees it’s just a short video of chicken frying in a pan, Kame periodically tossing in a few spices before the camera swings up to his face and he makes a chef’s kiss motion.</p><p><em>Mean Kame-chan</em>, Massu texts back within seconds. <em>Don’t tease if you’re not gonna share!!</em></p><p>Shige didn’t know Massu and Kame were on “Kame-chan” terms until right now, but it makes him feel a little better about instigating this whole soiree. Even if Kame was technically the one who started it. Shige’s brain likes to take responsibility for things he knows damn well aren’t his fault. It’s not fun.</p><p>He belatedly realizes that he needs to send a picture too, nearly tripping over himself to run into the kitchen and heat up a frozen meat bun. He starts to take an artfully diagonal shot of it on a plate and then gets a better idea, waiting until it cools enough to shove the whole thing in his mouth. He sends a close-up of his stuffed face, lips stretched widely around the filled dough.</p><p><em>Shigeeeeee</em>, Massu whines. <em>You are both making me so hungry!!</em></p><p><em>Go eat then</em>, Shige types, but before he can tap send there’s another picture from Kame. This one has a whole platter of fried chicken pieced together to look like a person, complete with fried egg eyes and raw sweet potato boobs. This time there’s no regret in the way Shige compares his cackling to that of a teenage boy’s.</p><p><em>Did you base your grocery list around my Jweb post last night or something?!  </em>Massu demands. <em>And that ratio just isn’t realistic.</em></p><p>It's Shige's turn now, but he’s not sure how to top that. He doesn’t even really know what game they’re playing, only that he needs to send a picture that complements Kame’s. On impulse, he grabs the stuffed rhino and hippo from his collection of plushies and balances them on the back of the couch, one on either side of his face. He squishes his face into a cheesy smile with both plushies tilted in to make it look like they're kissing his cheeks.</p><p>Somehow, this is more fun then the munekyun shit they do for work.</p><p><em>Hey, you’re getting closer to my house</em>, Massu tells them. <em>Don’t stalk me now.</em></p><p>Suddenly, Shige figures out what they’re doing. If they were allowed to go out (and it wasn’t so damned cold), he and Kame would probably be prowling the streets of Tokyo sending Massu pictures of real-life replicas of his ridiculous descriptions of what surrounds his home. They’d probably have to add food stickers. Shige may be able to get a good shot of the hood of his car from the balcony without venturing too far outside.</p><p>Kame’s next picture has him staying right where he is. It’s an aesthetic shot of his window, it looks like right above the sink, curtains pulled back on either side. The moon is barely visible, about to go into its new phase, but somehow the camera on Kame’s undoubtedly expensive phone captures it clearly, along with the reddish remains of lights reflecting off the clouds in as much as they can see of the Tokyo sky.</p><p>A song comes to mind, as it often does when Shige’s feeling sentimental, only this time it’s from a Disney movie older than he is. The only reason he even knows of it is because his mom used to sing it to him when he was a baby. He didn’t even know what the lyrics meant until he was older and revisited the memories.</p><p>It’s embarrassing, but people often find his embarrassment endearing so he sits next to the sliding glass door to his balcony and records himself singing the chorus to Somewhere Out There from An American Tail. It’s about two octaves lower and probably off-key, but he’s staring wistfully at the sky the whole time and ends with a dramatic lift of his arm, like he’s reaching out for someone. For them.</p><p>He quickly edits it with twinkling stars overlayed and sends it before he talks himself out of it. He’s still on the floor when he gets their responses, two separate seas of crying emojis and hearts like he’d accidentally sent it to Koyama instead.</p><p>
  <em>Shige! You threw my feelings back at me! I was not prepared! </em>
</p><p>
  <em>This started as a joke but now I’m a little bit in love with you. </em>
</p><p>Massu sends the big eyes emoji. <em>Which one of us are you talking to?</em></p><p>
  <em>Do I have to choose?</em>
</p><p>Kame’s question is accompanied by a picture, a close-up of Kame’s tired-looking face with fountain bangs and a fluffy dog in his lap. Both of them have puppy eyes, and Shige finds himself very, very confused.</p><p><em>I suppose not</em>, Massu replies. <em>I’m not sure what to do with that information though.</em></p><p><em>Just accept it</em>, Kame tells him. Both of them. <em>My love doesn’t come with any stipulations. You are free to selfishly enjoy it without giving anything back.</em></p><p>Shige can’t think of anything to say, so he just sends a thumbs-up emoji and looks around his apartment for something appropriate to send a picture of. Before he can find anything, he gets a picture from Massu, the first one since they started this group chat.</p><p>He’s in the bathtub, rocking a shower cap with bubbles up to his shoulders and a decorated ceramic elephant held up ceremoniously in one hand. His face looks like a careful combination of an eyeroll and a smile, something Shige would have to try very hard to form on his own but Massu probably did effortlessly.</p><p>Kame responds with another picture of himself, only this time he’s wearing antlers because of course Kamenashi Kazuya has reindeer antlers handy in February. It makes Shige wish he had antlers too, but then he remembers that stickers exist and he adds a red nose for emphasis.</p><p><em>We’ll be by to take you to work soon</em>, Shige types, followed by Kame’s Santa emojis like they were planned. Shige supposes they sort of were.</p><p><em>You two are too much</em>, Massu replies. <em>But thank you. This was fun</em>.</p><p><em>Yeah it was</em>, Kame says. <em>We should do it again, in person next time.</em></p><p><em>If you can find my house based on the clues I gave, you can come over</em>, Massu says evasively, and Shige just laughs while Kame sends his own big eyes emojis.</p><p>Good thing Shige already knows where Massu lives.</p>
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